


Come on baby, don't fear the reaper

by Intezaar_club



Series: The Foxes vs. The Grimms [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: F/M, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:09:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Intezaar_club/pseuds/Intezaar_club
Summary: The Foxes practice is interrupted by someone from Neil's past.
Relationships: Abby Winfield/David Wymack, Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: The Foxes vs. The Grimms [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095953
Comments: 8
Kudos: 155





	Come on baby, don't fear the reaper

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, hello, how do you do. I have no idea what this is. I've never written any thing before in my life, so if anyone knows what to do, feel free to save me. After I read AFTG my brain was just like here's an idea that you'll never be able to get rid of until you write it down. So here you go. Part 1, I guess (I am so sorry - in advance).

Wymack scowled past the plexiglass at his band of misfits performing drills with varying success. It had been one hell of a year for the Foxes, so Wymack had instituted a generous two-week break before practice commenced again, and he was already regretting it. The new recruits had yet to show up, so the nine biggest pains in Wymack’s life were running around trying to recall how the hell they had managed to win the championships a few weeks ago. The most egregious pain, otherwise referred to as Neil Josten, attempted to sprint past Boyd and was promptly slammed into the glass. Wymack felt the heated gaze of Abby land on his face from her place beside him as if it was somehow his fault that Exy was so violent.

Josten was quick to recover and managed to get the ball over to Kevin, who fired on an entirely apathetic Andrew. Wymack shut his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out an aggrieved sigh, in his display of an over-worked college coach trying his best. Andrew had grown a tad more invested in Exy, and Wymack could easily decipher why. He had not missed how tense the blond became when Josten went down moments ago. But Andrew was still rather opposed to putting in the necessary effort. 

The sound of the outer court door opening drew Wymack’s attention. His head snapped up to see a woman of at most thirty wander in. She was dressed fashionably in a sleek beige trench coat and a well-tailored black pantsuit with a plain white dress shirt underneath. Her heels clicked on the concrete as she looked around the space. She squinted (in what Wymack was sure was displeasure) at the assault of orange upon her vision. For a second, Wymack was sure she was a faculty member because there was no other way for her to gain access to the building, let alone slip past security. But then two broad-shouldered men that screamed dangerous slipped in behind her. They radiated the posture and power of men packing weaponry. Wymack regarded the woman, who was now scanning the oblivious players, with new eyes and thought for a moment that a trench coat was a great way to hide a gun. Abby shifted minutely closer to Wymack’s side, seemingly on accident. 

“Excuse me,” He called to the pack (as he was near the home bench, some distance from the entrance), “This is a closed practice.” The woman finally locked eyes with him, and he felt a wave a familiarly. Her eyes were a stunning blue, sharp with intent, but completely dead. Her hair, which he originally thought was brown, was clearly auburn. She had sharp cheekbones and a jawline that could cut glass. The only thing that was different about them was their stature. Where he was short and lean, she was tall and built. Then she smiled that deadly smile, and he was moving. 

But, he was too far away. She was closer to the inner court door and made it there first. The Foxes were all facing the far net, completely unaware. But, Andrew was still in goal and clocked the woman just as she swung the door open. The sound made the rest of them freeze and whip around. Wymack was focused on tackling the woman before something happened, but he was intercepted by one of her lackeys, who calmly pointed a gun at his head. Wymack froze, thinking of Abby, thinking of his misfits, thinking of Kevin, and heard the less than reassuring sound of a sharp intake of breath and a racket clattering to the floor. 

***

Neil was focused on Dan’s direction and Kevin’s less than helpful critiques, as the team practiced rebounds off the far wall while Andrew stood meaninglessly in the goal. He took to leaning on his racket and gazing lazily out into space. Neil almost chuckled at the sight, but it was interrupted by Andrew suddenly going ridged and peering at something over Neil’s shoulder. Before he could ask, the court door slammed open and startled the lot of them (apart from Andrew, of course). Everyone quickly looked towards the noise, but Neil’s eyes immediately locked on the gun aimed at Wymack’s head. 

Almost on accident, he took a step forward but was stopped by Andrew’s deathlike grip on his upper arm. He did not even bother looking back at him as his gaze finally flickered to the woman now standing a few feet onto the court. Before anyone else could react to the scene before them, Neil heard Kevin inhale sharply as recognition struck him, and he clutched to his racket as he stumbled back into a stone-faced Matt. Surprisingly, Renee dropped her racket as she fumbled for knives she no longer had. Dan and Allison sent her worried looks but did not dare move. Neil heard Nicky muttering and Aaron’s near-silent curses. 

Neil was expecting Andrew to go over to Kevin, but when the woman’s gaze locked with Neil’s, Andrew’s hold only tightened. The sharp blue pierced his brain, and from the wound, thousands of memories flowed. But, the fresh memory of Wymack being held at gunpoint brought him back quickly. He returned her gaze and shook off Andrew’s hold with zero resistance to remove his helmet. 

“You’re supposed to be dead,” he could sense the shock from his fellow teammates at his words but refused to look at any of them. 

“One could say the same about you,” she smirked, then followed up with an ominous, “But, a British birdie told me someone else perished in your place.” She tapped her finger once on her forehead, right where Stuart shot Nathan. “Tell me it’s true.”

He flicked his eyes towards the gun still aimed at a tense but steely-eyed Wymack and then back again. She got the message and spoke in quick Romanian, which made the lackey holster his weapon, but he stood bodily in Wymack’s way. Wymack just glared at the man’s audacity. 

“He’s dead,” Neil felt a true smile split his face, which was reciprocated by the woman. She held out her arms, and Neil knew that it was over. Truly over. 

He dropped his racket on the floor and ran the remainder of the court. He heard the squeak of Andrew’s shoe against the court as he probably tried to stop him and the exclaims of his teammates before throwing himself into her arms. She embraced him and pressed a small kiss to his unruly curls. When Neil pulled away, she frowned at the scars on his face and embraced his head to run her thumbs over them. 

“You’ll tell me about them?” she questioned, softly, “About all of it?” He nodded, and the motion made her hands fall away. She stepped back and held out her hand, “Sterling O’Connell,” she “introduced” herself.

He shook her hand, “Neil Josten,” he reciprocated. He knew she was originally Natasha Wesninski, and even though their names had changed, the title Aunt would remain. He also knew that he should explain this to his teammates, should turn around and address their curious stares, but he was too entrapped by Ling. She was exactly as he remembered her, but also entirely different. 

“Neil Josten,” she mocked, “Quite original.” 

“Shut up,” he dropped her hand, rolling his eyes, “Like Sterling is any better.”

She scoffed. “And don’t even get me started on all of this,” she waved her hands around. “Could you have chosen a brighter place to hide out? It’s like wearing a neon sign that says, “just kill me.’” 

He shoved her playfully, and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him towards the exit. He huffed and jokingly swatted at her until he heard Wymack call out, “Where do you think you’re going?” 

Neil stopped and glanced up at Ling, who released him and took a couple more steps towards her companions near the door, still facing Neil. She nodded in the direction of Wymack, so Neil finally turned around. He saw Kevin and Renee whispering to one another while Allison, Dan, and Matt stared at Wymack for an explanation. Aaron and Nicky came to stand by Andrew, who was glaring at Neil. Neil briefly felt bad for not telling him this particular truth, but he had been told to forget about her. To pretend that she had never existed at all. He felt worse about ignoring him now but turned his full attention to Wymack. 

Wymack did not seem nearly as fazed as he should be about having a gun pointed at his face moments ago. He quirked an eyebrow when Neil did not answer because he honestly had no idea where they were going. 

“Will you be back?” He tried instead. 

Neil… Neil was not sure. He had found a home with The Foxes, with Andrew, but… But Nat was the only semi-decent part of his childhood (which was saying something). He had failed to realize how much he missed her until he laid eyes on her again (and she stopped pointing a weapon at his coach). He would do almost anything for her, as evident by the fact that he had lied to Andrew. Neil looked to Ling for support and could practically feel Andrew seethe at the motion. 

Ling smiled at the gesture but nodded. When Neil looked back at Wymack, he looked in pain, and a sizeable frown creased his brow. “Yeah, I’ll be back,” he reassured him, but the frown remained. 

Wymack looked over his shoulder at Ling, then back at Neil. “Be careful, kid,” he muttered. Once Neil got the O.K., he spun around and resumed his spot tucked against Ling’s side. 

“Go start the car,” she directed her companions, who promptly disappeared down the hall and out onto the street. “Come on, you reek,” she gagged. 

He elbowed her in the ribs and steered them in the opposite direction of her companions, to the change room. She let out a soft oof, “You pest,” they both muttered. 

***

Andrew was left standing there in barely concealed confusion. Anger simmered right beneath that, but he chalked that up to his beloved coach facing down the barrel of a gun instead of focusing on the fact that Neil had lied to him.

After Neil and Sterling left, the group dissolved into chatter while Dan jogged off the court to check on Wymack and Abby. Who was that? Do they know each other? Have you ever seen Neil hug anyone like that? Did they look related to anyone else? What’s wrong with you guys? That one was directed at Kevin and, surprisingly, Renee. Andrew decided he would very much like to know the answer to that question.

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking of adding to this. Maybe explaining Kevin and Renee's reaction. I don't know. It's always bothered me that Nathan's family was never explored, but you know a lot about the Hartford's. So this is my attempt. I have the whole backstory in my head.


End file.
